


Rapunzel, let your hair down

by Duender



Series: Parkner Tales [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Humor, I Don't Even Know, Irondad, Ironinterns?, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, but it's adorable, parkner, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:15:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24602233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duender/pseuds/Duender
Summary: When Peter met Harley.
Relationships: Harley Keener & Tony Stark, Harley Keener/Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Avengers Team, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Avengers Team
Series: Parkner Tales [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1925005
Comments: 28
Kudos: 810





	Rapunzel, let your hair down

**Author's Note:**

> Part 2 is here! More tooth-rotting fluff as we join our favourite boys!

“It-it’s nice to meet you, Harley,” Peter said, only slightly stuttering. 

Harley smirked. “Pleasure’s all mine, darling.” Tony rolled his eyes at the nickname. 

“It’s a Southern thing,” he said, trying to pacify Peter. “Before anything else, I must warn you. Potato Boy here is an absolute menace and will try to rope you into his projects. Remember, Pete, don’t-”

“Don’t do anything you would do, and definitely don’t do anything you wouldn’t do. I  _ know,  _ Mr. Stark,” Peter said, rolling his eyes. Harley huffed out a laugh.

“Exactly. Goodness knows you’ll blow up the city if you tried,” Tony muttered. “Come on, you heathen,” Tony threw a nearby rag at Harley, “let’s go join the team. Lab time is going to be tomorrow.”

Harley gestured to the welding torch in his hand. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

Tony threw an arm over Peter’s shoulder. “How’s your day been?” Harley heard the voices fade away as Tony led Peter upstairs.

He let out a breath. The cute guy he had met was Tony’s intern. ‘Thousand percent guarantee of us getting along, Tony,’ he thought with a wicked grin.

**  
  
**

____________________________________

**  
  
**

Peter nodded along to whatever Tony was saying, answering in vague detail when Tony asked him about his day. His mind, however, was on the boy they had left behind in the lab.

Harley Keener, flirt extraordinaire who  _ might  _ be interested in him, was the person Tony had wanted him to meet, the one who had saved his life (and made an AI at age thirteen, if he remembered correctly).

Harley Keener was undoubtedly a genius, even if you didn’t ignore Tony’s comments about the potato gun. And he was hot, Peter admitted to himself. Dirty blond hair, blue eyes that were to die for, a sexy accent, and muscular arms that Peter wanted around him.

He shook his head slightly, trying to get rid of those thoughts.

“You don’t want pizza for dinner tonight?” Tony asked, astounded. 

“Oh - uh, I just thought that since we have a guest over and stuff, we could order something more classy,” Peter blabbered. ‘Good job, Parker,’ he mentally patted himself on the back for coming up with a believable lie as Tony raised an eyebrow but nodded.

“Not like Harls will care, but alright. It’ll appease Pepper too, so win-win,” he agreed, as they walked into the living room, where Sam was still playing Assassin’s Creed.

Peter flopped over the nearest couch, groaning when Tony nudged him for some space but scooting over nevertheless, turning over to watch Sam play as Clint and Tony discussed stuff he was in no mood to pay attention to.

“How was your day, kiddo?” Clint asked, having gotten tired of watching Sam playing. Knowing Falcon, he had been trying to beat the game the entire week, and still not succeeded.

“Eh, it was alright.”

The room fell into a comfortable silence, until Harley walked in.

“Hey, Harley!” Sam finally put down the controller, having gotten bored of his newest obsession. “How was your tour?”

Tony looked up. “Tour? What tour?”

Harley scoffed. “Figures you wouldn’t know what was going on in your own company, old man,” he said with a grin. “Pepper asked me to lead a tour group today. As a matter of fact, I was in charge of Peter’s group.”

Everyone turned to look at the brunette who was now trying to sink through the sofa, reminiscent of the time he had done it when meeting the Avengers properly for the first time.

“You had a trip. To Avenger’s Tower. And you didn’t tell me?! I would have held a special Q and A session and knocked that Dash guy off his high horse! I would have told everyone how smart you are-” 

Peter cut him off. “That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you, you know.”

Tony gave him a betrayed look. “Pep knew, didn’t she?”

“It’s  _ Pepper.”  _ Harley watched the back and forth with extreme interest as he sat down on an armchair. ‘Not my pseudo son, my ass,’ he thought with a grin.

“Betrayal! I trusted you, Pete,” Tony said dramatically, waving his hand about and accidentally hitting Peter in the face. The other three occupants of the room burst out laughing.

“Wait, so you two have already met?” Tony asked, gesturing towards the two teenagers on either side of him.

Peter shrugged while Harley nodded. Tony glared at both of them. “You let me look like a fool down in the lab for no reason.”

“I wouldn’t say for no reason,” Harley commented. Tony turned a scathing look towards the blond. 

“You are both little shits,” Tony declared. 

“Watch your profanity.” Both teenagers turned to each other as they spoke at the same time, before they burst out laughing.

Clint turned his face towards the ceiling. “Teenagers are a species I’ll never understand.”

“Amen to that,” the two other Avengers said, eyeing the laughing boys.

“It isn’t time for dinner and it’s Friday, meaning Pepper wouldn’t want us holed up in the lab…” Tony hummed. “Pete, why don’t you take this country boy on a short walk around NYC?”

A light red dusted Peter’s cheeks, but he stood up and stretched. 

“Sure. Come on, cowboy,” he said, walking towards the elevator. Harley caught up to him.

“Cowboy?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. Peter gulped slightly. He had been more confident when surrounded by the other Avengers, but now he was alone with a Southern hottie. 

“I’m pretty sure you have a cowboy hat and boots,” Peter mumbled as they got into the elevator.

Harley grinned. “I do.” Peter tried not to think about the blond in a country outfit, it was going to make his hormones go batshit crazy.

“Well, I guess we can just walk around, see if anything catches your attention?” Peter tried as they walked out of Avengers Tower. 

“Sure.”

**  
  
**

____________________________________

**  
  
**

“So, why do you call Tony Mr. Stark? Pretty sure he would have told you to call him Tony a million times.”

“Exactly why I don’t,” Peter said with an impish smile.

**  
  
**

____________________________________

**  
  
**

Peter decided that they should head towards the busier parts of the city, where there were shops and cafes. 

“So, you’re a genius kid Tony picked off the streets?” Harley asked, walking beside him with his hands in his pockets.

Peter kicked a stray pebble. “I guess. How do you know Tony?”

“He broke into my garage,” the blond said easily.

“Wait, what?”

“The Mandarin attack, he broke into my garage and I threatened him with a potato gun.”

Peter burst out laughing. “That’s why he calls you the potato gun kid!”

Watching Peter laugh was like hearing the angels sing. He laughed with his entire body, head thrown back and curls bouncing around, eyes bright and mouth curved into a pleased smile. 

The rest of their walk was filled with them sharing stories of their resident genius billionaire ex-playboy philanthropist.

“And he dunked his donut into the grease instead of his coffee!” Peter said with a giggle. “Oh look, Central Park!” Peter glanced at his companion. The blond seemed to be taken aback by the sudden appearance of  _ green  _ in the concrete jungle. 

“It’s beautiful,” Harley said, a bit breathless. 

Peter wasn’t sure how to handle an emotional and not-suave Harley so he stuttered out a “Yeah.” He fidgeted with his hoodie, asking, “So, you like it?”

“It’s gorgeous. Just like you,” Harley added with a wink in the brunette’s direction. Peter turned a bright red.

“We should get going if we want to see more stuff before dinner,” he said with a squeak. Harley grinned, light and mischievous, but followed as Peter led the way through the acres of gardens. Central Park was truly beautiful, and the company only made it better. The teenagers spent around half an hour before Peter’s stomach rumbled.

Peter let out an embarrassed smile that Harley found terribly endearing.

“There are several cafes nearby,” he pointed out. Peter nodded sheepishly. 

“Yeah, I’m hungry.”

The duo walked out of Central Park and Harley let his hand brush against the shorter boy’s. Peter’s cheeks turned a very fetching shade of red, and Harley groaned. How was it humanly possible for one person to be this adorable?

He spotted a quaint coffee shop nearby and grinned.

“Well, sweetheart, wanna go on a coffee date with me?” he asked, gesturing to it.

Peter looked up from his shoes to see what Harley was pointing at. A look of resolve overcame his features and he turned towards the taller teen.

“Sorry darling, I drink tea,” he said, skipping ahead. Harley stared at the figure in front of him. Did he just-

**  
  
**

____________________________________

**  
  
**

Harley caught up with Peter, but the shorter boy seemed to have exhausted all his courage and was back to his shy self, not that Harley was complaining. This sweet human was adorable and all he wanted to do was kiss and cuddle him and hide him away.

Peter led the way to a beautiful bakery. “They have the best desserts!” He exclaimed enthusiastically, pushing the glass door open.

“Well, I shall defer to your superior judgement then. What do you suggest?” The old woman behind the counter winked at Peter, causing him to turn a brilliant red, but he pointed out various things he thought Harley would enjoy.

After placing their orders, they sat at a booth away from people. 

“So, tell me about yourself,” Harley asked, swirling around his straw in the smoothie he got. Peter had given him a weird look when he had asked for whipped cream in his drink, but Harley could not live without his whipped cream.

Peter took a sip of his sweet cinnamon tea, the cute cinnamon bun that he was. “I live with my aunt in Queens,” he said with a shrug. “Though to be honest, we’ve practically moved into the Tower. I’m sure Tony’s going to make sure we’re permanent residents by the end of the year.”

Harley laughed. That certainly sounded like Tony. 

“What about you?” Peter asked, glancing at him through long eyelashes.

Harley hummed. “Rose Hill was a quiet place. I lived with my mum and sister. Abby’s the best,” he said fondly. “Gets in so much trouble, but she’s the kind of kid you glance at and go, ‘she’s going to be great’, you know?”

His table companion nodded. Peter could definitely glance at Harley and think the same, so it was no wonder his sister was just like him. 

“She sounds wonderful,” he said with a grin.

Harley fished out his phone, the Stark phone Peter was now sure was not on the market (and would probably never be) and swiped a couple of times before angling the screen towards him.

“That’s her.”

The photo was of a thirteen year old girl with the same golden hair and blue eyes that Harley had, though her hair was more golden than Harley’s darker blond. 

“She looks like you,” Peter commented. “She’s adorable.”

“Mhm,” Harley put away his phone. “She wants to be an actress someday.”

“With her brother having been accepted into some of the best unis in the world, I’m sure greatness runs in the family.”

Harley did not reply flirtatiously, something Peter had realized he could do a split second after he opened his mouth. Instead, he grimly smiled. “Just us young ones, unfortunately.”

Peter sensed that it was a sensitive topic.

“So what colleges have you gotten into?” he asked, watching in amusement as Harley took a long drink and acquired a whipped cream moustache.

“You’ve got a little-” he indicated to Harley’s upper lips, who just looked extremely confused as he tried to wipe his cheeks. Sighing, Peter grabbed a paper napkin, reached over, and wiped off the foam. Harley stared as Peter sat down after his absentminded action and reached for his cup before freezing.

Peter’s brain caught up with him as he reached for his tea. He had just-

“If you wanted to touch me, darling, all you had to do was ask,” Harley smirked.

Peter flushed but pouted. “Fine, next time I’ll let you walk around with a milk mustache.”

Harley laughed. “Hmmm. I got into MIT, Columbia, Yale, Dartmouth, Caltech and NYU, plus a few others which I’m not interested in.”

Peter’s eyes widened. “Holy crap, that is amazing!”

“Don’t worry, with a brain like yours, you’ll easily follow,” the blond said with a wink.

Peter didn’t bother replying this time as they both finished their desserts and stood to leave.

“Bring your boy back sometime again, Peter!” the woman behind the counter called out as they headed towards the door.

Harley couldn’t smother his laughter as Peter hurriedly pulled him out of the place he regretted coming to.

“No, Martha!” he yelled back as they exited the threshold, and then they were running down the busy sidewalks.

Peter quickly slowed down as he realized he was running faster than normal Peter Parker does, but Harley didn’t seem to be out of breath as they slowed to a stop. The blond was still laughing.

‘Damn, he’s fit!’ was Peter’s first thought, quickly followed by ‘His laugh is like the sun shining.’ Peter quickly turned his brain off. Where the hell did he get such weird thoughts from?!

He couldn’t even blame his spider genes, this was all Peter Parker.

“We should head back,” Peter commented as Harley finally took in a deep breath after his laughing fit. “And stop laughing at me!”

“Alright, alright,” Harley held up his hands, but the roguish grin did not leave his face.

The duo began their walk to the Tower, Peter pointing out local shops and things of interest on the way.

**  
  
**

____________________________________

**  
  
**

“Peter!” Pepper Potts was a woman of power, but around some, she turned into a mama bear, which Tony despaired over. And now both the hooligans were in the same room. Though to be fair, Harley was the hooligan. Peter was an angel. Until it came to annoying him. Then he was just as bad as the former.

“Hi, Pep!” Peter exclaimed, knowing there was no way he would be able to escape the affectionate strawberry blonde. He accepted a hug and hair ruffle from the CEO, before she moved on to Harley.

“How was your day with this lot?” she asked, waving a careless hand towards the Avengers sitting in the room.

“Eh,” Harley answered, and the room exploded.

“What do you mean eh?!”

“Peter’s better company than all you old men.”

Silence. “Now you’ve done it,” Peter whispered as Pepper stifled a laugh. 

“Did he just call us  _ old?”  _ Clint said, outraged.

This was the scene Natasha, Steve and Bucky walked into.

“What on earth-”

“Hi Tasha! Steve, Bucky,” Peter greeted. 

“Hello Peter,” Steve said cautiously. “May I ask what’s happening?” he asked, gesturing to the dogpile on the floor as Sam and Clint tried to pin Harley down.

The teen was holding up pretty well, considering he was fighting against a spy and a military officer, but he  _ was  _ fighting against superheroes, and he was soon on his back, pinned down and laughing.

“It’s better that you don’t,” Peter confided. The trio nodded slowly. “Where are Wanda and Vision?”

“They’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Tony stood up. “Alright, kiddos. Yes, Barton, you and Wilson too. Hope and Scott can’t make it, but Stephen is joining us. Which means get  _ off  _ my floor!”

Pepper snorted. “Tony, leave being mature to the actual adults, yes? But yes everyone, food’s going to arrive in an hour, so go wash up and whatever. I can smell you both stinking from here,” she added, narrowing her eyes at the super soldiers, who put their hands up in surrender and headed to their rooms.

Harley continued to lay on the floor starfish style after Clint and Sam had gotten off him. Tony prodded him with a foot.

“Up you go, potato boy. You and Pete should freshen up too, New York’s getting hot again and you both are sweating like pigs.”

Peter looked at him innocently. “I don’t sweat.”

Tony’s only answer was pointing at the door.

**  
  
**

____________________________________

**  
  
**

Harley was delighted to see his room was on the same floor as Peter’s - and Tony’s, but that’s not the important part. Fortunately, their short trip was full of them discussing tech, something that made Harley almost as happy as seeing Peter blush.

Peter seemed to gain a little bit of courage. “No more pick-up lines for me?” he asked shyly as he stood in front of his door.

Harley almost groaned. How was one person so adorable? “Darling, you’re so gorgeous, you made me forget them all.”

Peter let out a tiny giggle. “Alright, cowboy, you get to take me on a date,” he said with a smile before slipping into his room, leaving an open-mouthed Harley staring at the closed door.

**  
  
**

____________________________________

**  
  
**

Peter slumped against his door.

“I can’t believe I just did that!” He fumbled for his phone and found the contact he was looking for.

“Hello?” said the voice on the other end.

“It’s me.”

“I know, I have caller ID.”

“I asked Harley to take me out on a date!”

“Finally.”

“Ned, will you stop being so nonchalant about this!?”

“Ahem. Oh my gosh! Peter, you’re going on a date?! That’s so exciting!!”

“I hate you so much.”

“Want me to tell MJ?”

“Please.”

**  
  
**

____________________________________

**  
  
**

“Were you serious about me taking you out on a date?” Harley couldn’t help but want to confirm that the brunette  _ actually  _ wanted to go on a date with him.

“A date I’ll never forget, Keener,” Peter said seriously right before they stepped into the living room, where every Avenger had gathered.

“Hi Pete! Hi Harley,” Wanda waved as she used one hand to float over the takeout bags that had just arrived. “Just on time, food smells delicious!”

Peter suddenly remembered a very important detail.

He quickly made his way to Tony. “Mr. Stark, my metabolism,” he hissed, tugging on the man’s sleeve. Tony raised an eyebrow before spotting Harley.

He chuckled. “Wonder how long you’ll manage to keep it a secret, Underoos. Don’t worry, I’ll ask Vision to drop off half your food in your room, kay?” Peter gave him a sweet smile before bounding over and jumping on to the couch next to his favourite magician.

“Hi Doctor Strange!” he greeted the sorcerer who had probably arrived before he and Harley made it to the living room. 

“Hello, Peter,” the bearded man replied with a kind smile. “And you must be Harley,” he continued as the blond teenager sat on Peter’s other side and held out containers of the food.

“I am. Pleasure to meet you, sir.”

“Please, call me Stephen. This brat is the only one who insists on using titles,” Stephen accepted the food, his narrowed gaze on the boy beside him. His twitching lips gave away his amusement, though.

Harley laughed. “He seems polite like that,” he agreed, nudging the brunette.

A couple of minutes later, everyone was scattered around the room, engaging in small talk with their neighbours or with someone across the room. 

Pepper asked the teens about their day, as the Avengers discussed a mission Natasha and Clint had just returned from. Then Bruce regaled everyone with his tales in space, even though they had all heard it a hundred times already, and Tony threw in the intergalactic news Carol had sent him on the newest comm he had gifted her.

Peter smiled as he stuffed himself with chow mein and let the voices wash over him. There was no other place he would rather be.

Of course, the warm body right next to his and the Southern accent that sent shivers down his spine probably helped cement that notion.

**  
  
**

____________________________________

**  
  
**

Peter glanced at the clock on his table. It was one in the morning, who on earth was at his door?! Tony would have sent a message through Friday…

Peter quickly scribbled down the last answer to his calc homework and shut the notebook as he called, “Come in!”

A blond head poked in. “Hello, darling,” he said with a grin. He quickly glanced around the room, and it was everything he had expected. There were science posters everywhere, books scattered on the bed and desk, a pile of clothes on the floor and a red and blue flannel shirt half-way under the bed. Harley focused his attention back on the subject of his interest.

Peter gave him a smile as he shoved away his notebook, homework done for the week, and stood up. “Hey, why are you up so late?”

Harley snorted. “Pot, meet kettle. Anyways, date you’ll never forget, remember?”

Peter raised an eyebrow. “At midnight?”

“How else will you remember it, darling?”

Peter had slowly been getting used to the nicknames, but he still blushed.

“Where on earth do you plan to take me at one in the morning?”

“You live in the city that never sleeps, I wouldn’t be too worried about that.”

Peter furrowed his brows but stepped outside his room and pulled the door shut behind him before following the taller teen.

A few minutes of silence later…

“Why are we standing outside the lab?”

“Going on a date.”

The door slid open. Tony had given them both access to everywhere, after all.

Peter cautiously followed him in, eyebrows rising up as they made their way to where Tony kept the suits.

“What are we-”

“Fancy a midnight fly, darling?” Harley asked as he pivoted around on the balls of his feet to face the younger boy.

“What?! You want us to steal an Ironman suit?!” Peter screeched while simultaneously trying to be quiet. 

Harley’s eyes widened slightly, and he held up his hands. “No-”

“Harls,” Peter said firmly, ignoring Harley’s shock at the nickname. “Tony will kill us, resurrect us and then ground us for eternity.”

“You called me Harls,” the blond said teasingly, but Peter refused to blush. (If his cheeks were a little pink, that could be blamed on the lighting). “Besides, I wasn’t going to steal Tony’s suits. I’ve got one of my own.”

Peter blinked. When the situation finally dawned on him, he shook his head rapidly. “Tony will  _ kill  _ us!”

“It’s  _ my  _ suit, I’m not going to get scratches on his baby,” Harley pointed out.

Peter chewed on his lower lip. “But we’ll be in so much trouble!”

“Only if he finds out.”

“Harley!”

“Are you worried about falling? I wouldn’t let you, you know.”

Peter wasn’t worried about falling - worst case scenario, Harley would find out about his identity, and something told him the older teenager was extremely trustworthy.

“I know you won’t let me fall, but -”

“Come on, sweetheart, let your hair down and have fun for once!”

Peter raised an eyebrow. “Let my hair down?” he repeated dubiously.

“Have a good time! Honestly, what do you New Yorkers learn in school?” Peter flushed. 

“I-”

“I promise I’ll take all the blame,” Harley said. “Besides, you said you wanted a date you would never forget.”

Peter shuffled his feet nervously. “I-”

Wide blue eyes stared at him, and plump pink lips turned downward in an adorable pout.

**  
  
**

____________________________________

****  
  


“It’s beautiful,” Harley breathed out. Peter had attached himself to the suit’s back, it felt a lot like the scene from Big Hero 6.  _ Except Harley is way cuter than Baymax. _

“New York at night is gorgeous,” Peter agreed. “Makes up for the stars we can’t see.”

The twinkling cityscape looked gorgeous against the night sky. Harley was a good flier, taking care to not lean too much in any direction. Peter could have easily hung on even as a normal human.

A few minutes of quiet flying later, Harley began descending.

“Where are we going-” Peter was gently set on his feet, and then Harley was standing in front of him, the suit retracted back into his watch just like all the other suits Tony made.

“Pancakes!” he said cheerfully, and Peter noticed that they were in an alley next to an IHOP. He grinned.

“Alright, best date ever,” he admitted, laughter bubbling out of him when Harley pumped a fist into the air.

The blond reached for his hand, and then they were running across the empty parking lot.

Peter let out a carefree laugh, his hand warm and his cheeks warmer as he followed this Southern angel who had somehow brightened his life in less than a day.

**Author's Note:**

> "New York makes everything so sweet," Harley complained.  
> "To make up for your bitter personality. Better eat it all," Peter said loftily, aggressively biting into his pancake.  
> Harley grinned a wicked grin. "I was talking about you. You do look very delectable."  
> Tony would have been proud, Peter now matched his superhero suits.
> 
> meep.  
> Send me asks/requests on [Tumblr!](https://duender-writes.tumblr.com/)


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